Question: Simplify the following expression: $y = \dfrac{-5x^2+1x+18}{x - 2}$
First use factoring by grouping to factor the expression in the numerator. This expression is in the form ${A}x^2 + {B}x + {C}$ First, find two values, $a$ and $b$ , so: $ \begin{eqnarray} {ab} &=& {A}{C} \\ {a} + {b} &=& {B} \end{eqnarray} $ In this case: $ \begin{eqnarray} {ab} &=& {(-5)}{(18)} &=& -90 \\ {a} + {b} &=& &=& {1} \end{eqnarray} $ In order to find ${a}$ and ${b}$ , list out the factors of $-90$ and add them together. Remember, since $-90$ is negative, one of the factors must be negative. The factors that add up to ${1}$ will be your ${a}$ and ${b}$ When ${a}$ is ${-9}$ and ${b}$ is ${10}$ $ \begin{eqnarray} {ab} &=& ({-9})({10}) &=& -90 \\ {a} + {b} &=& {-9} + {10} &=& 1 \end{eqnarray} $ Next, rewrite the expression as $({A}x^2 + {a}x) + ({b}x + {C})$ $ ({-5}x^2 {-9}x) + ({10}x +{18}) $ Factor out the common factors: $ x(-5x - 9) - 2(-5x - 9)$ Now factor out $(-5x - 9)$ $ (-5x - 9)(x - 2)$ The original expression can therefore be written: $ \dfrac{(-5x - 9)(x - 2)}{x - 2}$ We are dividing by $x - 2$ , so $x - 2 \neq 0$ Therefore, $x \neq 2$ This leaves us with $-5x - 9; x \neq 2$.